As you’ve might caught in the news last week, Kramer Largent (above, left), son of former Seahawks receiver / U.S. Congressman Steve, was indicted on charges of sexual solicitation of a child under 16. Largent, born with spinal bifida, appeared alongside his father in a series of NFL/United Way commercials some years ago.
I know nothing about the case other than what’s been reported. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Ted Miller, however, noting that Largent’s prior story “has been an inspiration”, suggests this incident “could be a misunderstanding, a bit of online flippancy gone awry. He could be innocent. Or he could be guilty only of immaturity and bad judgment.”
This isn’t the sort of thing that disappears even after a not-guilty verdict. It tends to linger and follow a person, particularly one who has a famous last name.
From now on, a Google of the Largent name will yield stories of Kramer’s indictment. Fame and fortune are wonderful things. Until they aren’t.
If Kramer were the son of Bruce Scholtz, Bill Gregory or Paul Moyer, all former Seahawks who played with Largent — or you or me, for that matter — news of his indictment wouldn’t appear in papers across the country. His embarrassment would be personal and on display only for those who know him. If he subsequently prevailed in a courtroom, those around him would see him as only what a positive verdict proclaimed: Not guilty.
Life would go on, mostly free of snickers and innuendo.
I don’t read Miller’s stuff regularly, so perhaps my friends in Seattle can let me know how often he takes the time to cast doubt on the credibility of children who claim they’ve been sexually harrassed. Indeed, Largent’s notoriety makes this a more prominent case. By the same token, I’d wager that relatively few alleged aspiring child molesters have the benefit of a major newspaper columnist insisting “it just doesn’t seem possible.”
If Kramer Largent is, as Miller claims, “a pawn in society’s insatiable quest for the lurid,” at least he’s a pawn with friends in high places.